POLICE SEARCHES OF SHIPS AND DENS FOR DRUGS AND ADDICTS.




Initials RGM/VA/CC/SA



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: SINGAPORE, WITH NEARLY TWO MILLION PEOPLE ON A TINY ISLAND, IS ONE OF THE THREE GREAT DRUG TRAFFICKING CENTRES IN ASIA. AND IN SINGAPORE, AS IN BANGKOK AND HONG KONG, THE FIGHT AGAINST THE DRUG TRAFFIC GOES ON CONSTANTLY.

ON THE SINGAPORE SIDE OF THE CAUSEWAY THAT LINKS THE ISLAND STATE WITH NEIGHBOURING MALAYA, CARS AND TRUCKS FACE A THOROUGH SEARCH. SHIPS IN THE CROWDED HARBOUR AND BUSY WATERFRONT AREA ARE CLOSELY EXAMINED AND REGULAR RAIDS ARE CARRIED OUT ON SUSPECTED DENS DEEP IN THE HEART OF THE CITY'S OLD CHINATOWN.

THE DRUGS COME TO SINGAPORE FROM NORTH-EAST THAILAND, LAOS AND SOUTHERN CHINA, WHERE THE OPIUM POPPIES BLOOM UNCONTROLLED. A DROP IN OPIUM TAKERS HAS BEEN RECORDED IN SINGAPORE, BUT THE POLICE ARE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT THIS FACT THAN IF STATISTICS HAD SHOWN AN INCREASE. THEY FEAR THAT YOUNGER ADDICTS MAY HAVE TAKEN TO USING OTHER DRUGS, SUCH AS MORPHINE, HEROIN AND MARIJUANA - NARCOTICS WITH MORE DANGEROUS EFFECTS THAN THE DREAMS OF THE OPIUM SMOKER.